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Beginning to Begin

What does it mean to be a people of invitation?

It’s September! The weather is already shifting and the colors are beginning to turn. School is back in session, and as of this past Sunday, our new church year has officially begun. It is a time of many new beginnings.

As a part of the new year, we are returning to our monthly theme-based ministry, this time using the Soul Matters Sharing Circle themes, which are being used by over 120 other Unitarian Universalist congregations. Find out more about Soul Matters here.

For September, the theme is invitation, with our grounding question: “what does it mean to be a people of invitation?”

Last Sunday, you may have spent time with one or more of our Reflection Stations in the Remembrance Garden (these stations will stay out all month, and I encourage you to spend some time walking and reflecting there in the quiet of that space). One of the reflections there asked us to consider the poem, “Beginning to Begin” by Gunilla Norris, and then to ask ourselves what in our lives is “beginning to begin.”

As we move into this new church year, and new school year, this new season, let us ask ourselves this question: What is the invitation our lives are making to us now? What is beginning to begin? And, what space would you need to make so that this new beginning could have the room to take hold? What new clearing would you need to create in your life, in your heart?

Being a “people of invitation” means constantly making space and clearing the way for new arrivals. It is not always easy work, and it can bring a mix of feelings of grief, and relief, and it can take time. And so we take a deep breath, and be kind to ourselves, and keep trusting that, as Julian of Norwich said, “All will be well, all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”